as we once more watch propogandists like @EricTopol barter the last dregs of their academic and scientific credibility for just one more round of fear mongering, i fear i must once more repeat:

"discussing case counts without reference to testing levels is tantamount to lying."

the US is near the lows for covid prevalence in spite of the massive false + from oversensitive PCR at 40 Ct catching remnants of old infection or trace contamination

yet dutiful eric is undeterred and is not only pushing the misleading data, but is now drawing lines of his own

this is outright fraud. there is just no other way to spin it anymore.

the idea that a guy like topol could, after all this time, be so statistically ignorant as to fail to account for sample rate is simply not plausible.

we're at 27% of the april peak, not 230%.

testing levels are 6X april levels

if you sample at 6X the rate, any given prevalence gets you 6X the "positives"

but it does not mean "more disease"

you can explain this to a golden retriever of avg. intelligence in about 4 minutes. (and you know what those things are like)

overlay the two, and it becomes painfully obvious how the one drives the other.

and i am simply out of charity on this issue with guys like topol. this cannot be a mistake.

he's willfully lying and fear mongering because he's a creature of politics, not science.

just like this utter muppet who is, apparently, doing attack ads on TV where he pretends to be an epidemiologist (he's not) and preaches lockdown in hopes of getting to run for congress again. (he lost)

my friend sent this to me. it was playing during the ohio state game.

meanwhile, CFR keeps drifting lower as the "casedemic" plays out.

there is simply nothing worrying going on and listening to these two blather on with stunning mendacity to further their political ambitions is grotesque.

neither should ever hold a science post again.

when this is all over and you look back, remember the ones who told you the truth and tried to shed light on this, but more so remember those who knowingly lied and tried to play you for a sucker

comparisons to the vichy french are not inapt

and they warrant the same desserts

if we allow this sort of weaponization and politicization of science to launch careers rather than to end them, we are, to use a technical term, "well and truly screwed."

this will be our new normal.

do not let this be so.

the society you save may be your own.